Stories from Friday, June 17, 2011

Workshop faces complaints from support staff, parents(06/17/11)The Board of Directors for the Monett Area Extended Employment (Sheltered) Workshop found themselves confronted by staff and discontented parents armed with several pages of grievances at a special board meeting held Wednesday. The meeting lasted an hour-and-a-half and involved many heated exchanges over Workshop operations...

Plans advanced for new golf course clubhouse in Monett(06/17/11)Last week a work session was held to discuss progress on a new clubhouse for the Windmill Ridge municipal golf course. City Golf Commissioner Mike Brownsberger met with City Administrator Dennis Pyle, architect Richard Werner and Mike Knight, director of golf. Mayor Jim Orr and Commissioner Jerry Dierker dropped in on the meeting...

Community Garden thriving(06/17/11)The Community Garden, sponsored by the Community Kitchen, has taken off. Of the 18 plots available, 17 plots have been planted, measuring 20-by-20 feet, representing 14 different families. "What a variety of produce we are growing," said Brenda Davis, spokesperson for the Community Kitchen. "We have green beans, carrots, a variety of squash, melon, snap peas, corn, tomatoes and an assortment of flowers."...

Pierce City Council takes a closer look at streets needing repairs(06/17/11)Pierce City aldermen debated the best course of action for street projects during the coming weeks -- paving new streets or maintaining those already paved. Mayor Allen Stockton and aldermen discussed a number of streets in town that need repair or chip-and-seal resurfacing as well as those areas that need major work to prevent gravel washing onto streets and yards...

School Readiness Fest slated for Crowder's Cassville campus(06/17/11)The Barry County OACAC Neighborhood Center is currently preparing for its 2011 School Readiness Fair, which will be held at the Crowder College Cassville Campus Community Center on Thursday, Aug. 4. Families can register for this year's fair at the Neighborhood Center, which is located on Highway 248 in Cassville. Registrations will be accepted through Friday, June 24...

Monett City Council to meet on Monday(06/17/11)The Monett City Council will meet at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, June 20, at the Monett City Hall Council Room. Among agenda items included are: Department heads will also provide a rundown a the latest work crews have been doing. The meeting is open to the public...

Strawberry Fest car show draws varied entries(06/17/11)The car show at Monett's Strawberry Festival brought vehicles for display in both the Sixth Street parking lot, shown above, and the UMB Bank parking lot across the street. Vehicles were shown by the decade of their creation. Organizers tracked winners by the model but did not record the names of owners...

O'Hara selected for super football combine(06/17/11)Cedric O'Hara, a junior, at Pierce City High School, has been selected to compete at the Blue-Grey National Super Football Combine in Canton, Ohio, on June 18. Cedric is one of 30 prospects representing the state of Missouri after competing in the Kansas City Chiefs training camp on the campus of Missouri Western University in St. Joesph...

Thinking of floating on Flat Creek(06/17/11)"Floating the river" in southwest Missouri usually elicits visions of charging down the raging Buffalo River after a good rain in a whitewater kayak or professional-grade canoe. The Elk River at Pineville or even the Illinois on both the Arkansas and Oklahoma sides offer beautiful and challenging experiences. There are many other great floating venues available in the area as well. But one of the best kept floating secrets is right in the heart of Barry County...

Area runners in action and summer run tips(06/17/11)The Monett Ragsdales recently competed in the third annual Memorial Day Relay For Life at Nixa. Jerry Ragsdale placed seventh overall and second in the men's 40-49 division, completing the 5K course in 19:37.7. Jonah Ragsdale also cracked the top 10 overall, finishing ninth in the race and first in the men's 13-19 division with a 19:56.1 effort...